Summary:
Zip code 39581 in Pascagoula, MS, is served by three elementary schools — Arlington Elementary (PK-4), Cherokee Elementary (K-4), and Jackson Elementary (K-4) — all part of the Pascagoula-Gautier School District, a 4-star district ranking in the 74th percentile of Mississippi districts.
Jackson Elementary is the current standout, ranking 111th out of 377 elementary schools in the 2025-2026 cycle (71st percentile, 4 stars) after climbing from the 48th percentile three years ago. It posts the highest 3rd-grade scores in the zip code, with 71% proficiency in ELA and 67.7% in math. Cherokee Elementary is the math powerhouse, achieving 76.1% 4th-grade math proficiency in 2025-2026 — nearly 25 points above the state — but it is volatile, dropping from the 80th percentile to the 50th percentile in one year, including a 35-point collapse in 3rd-grade math. Arlington Elementary is the main area of concern, ranking 251st (2 stars) and scoring below district and state averages on every single MAAP test, with an overall proficiency average of just 39.0%.
All three schools serve high-poverty populations, with free/reduced lunch rates from 74.27% to 85.29%, yet two of the three outperform the district and state averages — a reminder that poverty does not determine outcomes. Chronic absenteeism is a relative strength, with all three schools below the district average of 21.1% and the state average of 23.9%. Cherokee has the best student-teacher ratio (12.5:1) and highest average proficiency (57.8%), but Jackson performs nearly as well with a ratio closer to Arlington's. Arlington, which has the highest enrollment, highest poverty rate, and lowest performance despite the best attendance, appears most in need of targeted instructional support, especially in math.
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